STORMY WEATHER CASTS DARK CLOUD ON ATTENDANCE AT AMUSEMENT PARK

Lagoon's new Ferris wheel - the 150-foot-tall "Skyscraper" - has been scraping mainly clouds since the amusement park opened on weekends three weeks ago.

As a result of the inclement weather, the park's total attendance to date is about 20 percent of last year's early season number, said Lagoon marketing director Dick Andrew."We had better luck last year," Andrew said.

This year, however, Lagoon has already experienced its entire projected spring weather losses. "We've lost that amount, and we still have a month (of spring) to go. We're hoping for sunny skies."